Railway cars, including streetcars and subway cars traditionally ride on a pair of parallel rails. The rails are engaged by respective wheels of a railway truck.
Traditional railway trucks include a pair of generally parallel sideframes connected by a transversely extending bolster. The bolster supports an overlying railway car.
In a traditional railcar the wheels are rigidly secured to opposite ends of an axle in an assembly referred to as a “wheelset”. The railway truck typically has a pair of generally parallel wheelsets and the railway truck maintains the wheelsets in the generally parallel configuration.
A first disadvantage of traditional railcars is the requirement of having a pair of rails which much be maintained in a generally parallel spaced apart relationship. This arrangement is capital and labour intensive.
A further disadvantage of traditional railcars is their inability to steer given that the wheelsets are supported with their respective axles generally parallel. Although the railway truck may swivel relative to an overlying railcar, the wheelsets remain in a fixed alignment. Accordingly the wheels generally align poorly with railway tracks in corners causing slippage between the wheels and the tracks which causes the characteristic squeal of subway cars and streetcars in negotiating corners and as well damage to the tracks arising from the slippage.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a railway truck and a rail system which overcomes at least some of the problems set out above with traditional railcar and railway systems.